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 Big
Pocono Trail Ride - Camelback Mountain off Camelback
Road Tannersville, PA. 18372
One of the highest elevation rides in the Poconos. Absolutely
wonderful views of the Delaware Water Gap, and across NJ
to the southern tip of New York State. (Look for the obelisk
at High Point Park to the North East.) Get information,
maps and supplies at "The Loft" on Camelback Road
on your way up. Make it a two day trip and spend the second
day relaxing your sore muscles at Camelbeach Water Park
in the Kahuna Lagoon Wave Pool. The trails are numerous,
some isolated, single track and woods roads and an old railroad
bed. Take lots of water on this ride! Be aware of the wild
life - we've seen bear, foxes, an abundance of dear and
on one occasion a real wild Bobcat.
If
you choose to ride in the Adjacent State Gamelands:
State
Game Lands 38 contains 3,943 acres of forest adjacent to
Big Pocono State Park and is undeveloped, with rocky, little-used
roads and an abandoned railroad grade. A boulder field and
kettle lakes are reminders of glacial history. The glacier
gouged out depressions, which filled with melting ice. These
lakes are fed by groundwater alone and, on a geologic scale,
are temporary features. They will eventually fill with sediment
and become swamp and then forest. Interesting features:
Pennsylvania kettle lakes, boulder field. Surface: Rough
woods road, abandoned railroad grade, power-line cut.
Personally
recommended by our PoconosBest.com Staff. Who bikes here:
All the Local and State Officials. More on Big
Pocono Trails
Our
2 day 2 night Mountain Biking In Big Pocono State
Park $499 + Tax ($249.50 per person) for two people
for 2 nights package includes:
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Overnight accommodations at The Chateau (a 3.5 to 4 Star
hotel on the Mountain) for two. Breakfast is available for
a charge in the onsite restaurant.
>
Bike rental for 2 for One Day. 9 AM until 5 PM. (Use either
day of your stay reserved in advance.)
>
Dinner Voucher for one dinner (Value to $40.00) At Alaska
Pete's Roadhouse Saloon and Restaurant - About a 18
minute drive of the hotel.
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Map to Trail Entrance, Map of Trail, Guide to Big Pocono
State Park.
This
package is for the novice to intermediate biker. A fun easy
trip with some hills and single track up and down the same
path with views of the river and mountains. Since you will
be traveling through the State Park the entire trip, you'll
not see any houses and very little evidence of civilization.
The land along the trip is pretty much the way it was in
the 1700s.
For bike rentals go to The Loft just 5 minutes from where
the trail begins. Camelback Road Tannersville, PA 18372
Guided hikes in the area are also available.
 You
will stay at this Hotel "The
Chateau Resort"
You
may request an other more romantic Country Inn during the
reservation process and most of the time we will be able
to accommodate you. However final selection of the inn is
based upon availability. It is possible that we may have
to finalize your reservation at an inn other than your preference.
Each inn has its unique ambienace and all are inviting,
clean and friendly.
$499
+ Tax ($249.50 per person) for two people for 2 nights
Call 1-800-805-3559 for reservations
Big
Pocono State Park Bike Trails Map
Big Pocono State Game Lands 38 Biking Map
Biking: Bicycles are permitted on all hard surface roads
shared by vehicles. Mountain biking is permitted on South
Trail and North Trail Lower Loop. Bikes are prohibited on
the connecting trails from the parking lots and on Indian
and North trails.
The
top of Camelback Mountain is a unique forest called a scrub
oak shrubland. Wind-dwarfed gray birch, quaking aspen, red
pine and scrub oak cover the mountaintop, with no tree over
twenty feet tall. Lowbush blueberry, sweet fern and mountain
laurel grow under the short trees. Down slope, the forest
offers more shade with mixed hardwoods including oak, maple,
and hickory trees.
Portions
of South Trail are lined with blueberry and mountain laurel,
which bloom in mid-June. On the north side of the mountain,
North Trail Lower Loop Trail on the old railroad grade passes
through a rock cut and offers hikers a glimpse of a hemlock
and rhododendron glen, which is surprisingly cool on hot
summer days. Rhododendron blooms in late July.
History:
Big Pocono State Park is on land which was owned by Henry
S. Cattell near the turn of the 20th century. Mr. Cattell,
being very fond of the view from the summit of Camelback
Mountain, and knowing that many others shared his love for
the area, constructed a stone cabin on the summit in 1908.
The Cattell Cabin was left unlocked for many years to be
used as a shelter by anyone who wished.
Since
1921, the Pennsylvania
Bureau of Forestry has maintained Big Pocono Fire Tower
on the mountain for the purpose of detecting forest fires
in the surrounding private and state forest lands. The tower
is staffed only during the spring and fall seasons and has
been dedicated by the National Fire Tower Association as
a historical structure.
In 1928,
12 years after Mr. Cattell's death, the Pennsylvania Game
Commission purchased the area. In 1950, a portion of the
state land on the steep north slope of the mountain was
leased to Big Pocono Skiing, Inc., for commercial ski development.
Later named Camelback Ski Corporation, the facility has
been developed into a major ski resort.
In 1953,
a 1,306-acre portion of the state game lands, including
the ski area lease, was acquired by the Pennsylvania Department
of Forests and Waters (now the Department of Conservation
and Natural Resources) for the purpose of developing a state
park at the mountain's summit.
In 1954,
after the construction of restrooms, parking areas, picnic
sites, fireplaces and a scenic drive around the summit,
the area was opened to the public as Big Pocono State Park.
The Cattell Cabin (pictured below) served for many years
as a park office and nature museum
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Our
2 day 2 night Mountain Biking Along the Delaware
River $445 + Tax ($222.50 per person) for two people
for 2 nights package includes:
